


Her Fault

by spanishmonkeys



Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-09 04:21:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16442882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spanishmonkeys/pseuds/spanishmonkeys
Summary: Maui's point of view when he leaves Moana.





	Her Fault

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm already stuck on The Gold Calls (surprise, surprise) so here's a little thing I wrote to find my inspiration. Happy Halloween!

Moana was stirring. He could hear her small grunts of exhaustion and pain through aching limbs. Maui couldn’t look at her. She was fine; there was no need to worry about her, not that he could. He glanced down at his hook, held limply in his hands. The angry black scorch marks lined the giant crack as if it was struck by lightning. She did this. This was her fault.

The ocean was completely calm, an insulting contrast to the tidal wave destroying what used to be Maui’s growing admiration for Moana. All that was left was anger. It was roiling deep inside of him, but muted, like a volcano about to erupt. Mini Maui was strangely silent on his chest. A tooth on his necklace fell over the tattoo, hiding it from view.

Then he heard Moana speak.

“Are… you okay?”

He didn’t answer. How could he be okay? The one thing that he valued most, destroyed. Nothing would make it better. He can’t beat Te Ka with a broken weapon. He couldn’t do it while his hook was working all those years ago, let alone this. There was no way. Being a hero meant nothing if he couldn’t prove his worth. Just because of a simple battle? This was her fault.

“Maui?”

At hearing his name, he stood up. He turned, still glaring downwards. He couldn’t meet her eyes, not now. If he did, he might lose his cool. So, he focused on his hook. It crackled with purple sparks; what little magic still contained inside threatening to break completely out of control. This wouldn’t have happened if she had listened to him.

“I told you to turn back.” He was quiet, his anger still clawing at his resolve, threatening to surface. He let it simmer, but didn’t force it away. It was all he had at this point.

“I thought we could make it,” Moana said. Maui felt the anger spike. The arrogance of this girl, roping him into the mistakes _she_ made. For once, he had nothing to do with this. Her own recklessness had almost killed him, wrecked the boat, and destroyed his hook. This was her fault. He couldn’t avoid looking at her anymore. He glowered at her, making sure his sentiment was known.

“We?” he asked sharply. At that thinly veiled accusation, Moana’s face fell into regretful shame and Maui couldn’t help feeling a twinge of satisfaction.

“I thought _I_ could make it,” she admitted. Then she stepped forward, reaching for his hook, as if she was going to repair it right then and there. “We can fix it.”

The nerve of her. “It was made by the gods,” Maui countered. “You can’t _fix_ it.” Her overconfidence was naïve. His hook was a divine artifact, there was no way anyone could tamper with it. Not even demigods.

Moana knelt on the deck, already restoring the damaged boat. “Next time we’ll be more careful. Te Ka was stuck on the barrier islands. It’s lava. It can’t go in the water. We can find a way around.”

She was so matter-of-fact. Assuming there would be a next time.

“I’m not going back.”

Moana tentatively glanced up at him, as if she was afraid of what she just heard. “W-We still have to restore the heart,” she stammered.

“My hook is cracked,” Maui stated. “One more hit, and it’s over.” He emphasized the ‘ _over_ ’. No more saving the world, no more hook, and no more Maui. But still, the mortal protested.

“Maui, you have to restore the heart!”

His patience was wearing thin. He could feel it bubbling; his anger was threatening to erupt. Still he kept his voice level.

“Without my hook I am nothing.”

“That’s not true!”

“Without my hook, I am nothing!” he yelled. Moana flinched, startled by his sudden outburst. She heaved for breath, wide-eyed, staring at him in fear. Deep down, Maui supposed he should feel bad, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. This mortal had ruined too much for him already. He shouldn’t have agreed to bring her along all those weeks ago. He glared at her, holding out his hand to show the Heart of Te Fiti nestled in his palm. He tilted his hand, and let the piece of pounamu slide onto the deck. It landed with a careless clatter. Maui brushed past her to stand on the bow of the boat. Then it was Moana’s turn to harden.

“We are only here, because you stole the heart in the first place.” Her tone was accusatory. Briefly, and without warning, he saw himself at Te Fiti, prising the heart from the stone with his hook. Flashes of fire, and a blinding purple light. He was never around to truly see what effects the missing heart had on the world, but he found out enough from Moana: Sparse, fleeting comments about a black rot, decimating all life in its wake. Some small niggling part of him surmised that this _was_ his fault. He quickly squashed it down into nothing before he started feeling guilty. This mortal brat wouldn’t twist him around her little finger again.

“No, we are here because the ocean told you you’re special, and you believed it,” he rebutted. Moana didn’t reply at first, and he had a good guess at what she was going to say next.

“I am Moana of Motunui. You will board my boat-”

That annoying mantra. It was time to go.

“Goodbye Moana.”

“-Sail across the sea-,”

She thought she was so special. Nothing was left in her path but illusions of grandeur and egotism. All of that led to suffering wherever she went. It was completely beneath him. Maui wasn’t going to let that happen to himself. She had to learn from her mistakes the hard way.

“I’m not killing myself so you can prove you’re something you’re not!”

But of course, she kept going.

“-and restore the heart of Te Fiti. The ocean chose me!”

Funny.

“It chose wrong.”

Ignoring the devastated expression he was given, Maui turned away. Holding his hook up in preparation, he heaved a deep breath. He let the power of his hook flow through him, willing it to change his form. There was a crackle, a flash of purple, and a sharp streak of lighting that went racing up his body. He couldn’t stop himself from letting out a cry of pain. Damn this mortal. This was her fault.

He tried again. This time, it worked, but not without lingering pain. He felt his limbs shifting, arms forming wings, feet forming talons, and feeling the lightness of feathers.

He didn’t look at her. He took off from the boat and pumped his wings as hard as he could, flying away from that stupid child and her reckless behaviour. He heard her calling him, but he shut it from his mind. He focused on the direction he was heading, the beat of his wings, and his anger. Soon he knew he was far away from the boat, without ever looking back. The human would have to give up and go home. To hell with the whole ‘heart’ business. Maui wasn’t going back.


End file.
